Another fortnight's sailing brought the travellers abreast of a river
which flowed slowly and sluggishly into the stream they had ascended,
just when its waters had begun to grow clearer and more shallow. It had
become more rapid too in its course, and everything suggested that they
were gradually gaining higher ground. In addition, in spite of the
favourable breezes they enjoyed, the brig could now hardly stem the
current.
The consequence was that at the captain's suggestion the more sluggish
waters of the confluent river were entered, and the fresh course slowly
pursued ever northward and westward for weeks, till it became plain that
much further progress could not be made in the brig itself.
The banks had closed in so that every night the vessel could have been
moored to some large tree; but one night's experience of this proved to
be sufficient for the travellers, too many of the occupants of the
forest giant finding their way on board and interfering with their
comfort, and as the vessel swung in the stream boughs of neighbouring
trees entangled themselves with the rigging.
"It's all right by a wharf," said the captain, "or in a dock; but it
won't do here."
And in future they always anchored in midstream just before darkness
fell.
And now, hour by hour, they had warning that their further progress with
the brig would soon come to an end.
"And it's my belief, gentlemen, that it will be before night," said the
captain one morning when they were all seated together beneath the
awning chatting. "If you keep quite still, you can hear the stopper."
"Stopper? What do you mean?" asked Sir Humphrey, in a surprised tone.
He was once more pretty well his old self.
"Well, bar, then. There, you can hear it quite plain now."
"Do you mean that low murmur?" said Brace, who was listening intently.
"I thought it was the wind."
"No, sir, it's the water," said the captain. "That's either a fall or
else some rapids. I've been noticing lots of little signs of a change
lately, and if it wasn't for this steady wind we shouldn't be moving at
all. See how clear the water is?"
"Yes, I've noticed that it has been gradually becoming clearer," said
Brace. "But do you notice that the wind is dropping?"
"Yes, we are leaving it behind, and it strikes me that if you like to
try about here or a little higher up you'll get some sport."
"Then we'll try," said Brace, "when we anchor for the night."
As the morning progressed, the wind rose higher and the river widened.
It was as if the opening out gave play to the breeze, and a good ten
miles were run before sundry warnings of shallowing water made the
captain give orders for reducing the sail; but, in spite of this, as the
brig rounded a curve which disclosed to the delighted vision of the
travellers a glorious landscape of open park-like country backed by
mountains, with the sparkling waters of a furious rapid running from
side to side where the river contracted again after opening out like a
lake, there was a soft grinding sensation, and the way of the vessel was
slowly checked, while the next minute it was fully grasped that they
were fast on a sandbank, with the open forest on one side only a hundred
yards or so away, and on the other fully a mile.
"We've done it now, squire," said the captain, turning to Brace and
mopping his face with a handkerchief he took out of the crown of his
straw hat.
"Done it?"
"Yes; here we are, wrecked and set fast in the bed of the river."
"But I suppose we shall only remain here for an hour or two."
"Or for a year or two, or altogether, my lad. Maybe we shall never be
able to get the brig off again; but we must hope for the best. It's
just as if we were set in the ice up yonder in the Arctic regions, eh?"
"This place is not very Arctic," said Brace, laughing.
"No, my lad, not very," said the captain, as Sir Humphrey came up. "We
seem to be in for it now, sir."
"Yes, but I suppose we are not stuck very fast. You'll send out an
anchor and haul upon it with the capstan."
"Wouldn't be any good, sir. We're fast in the sand upon an upright
keel, and until the water rises after a storm here we stick."
"But you talked about throwing over some of the ballast to lighten the
vessel if a case like this occurred," said Brace.
"Yes, squire, that would do perhaps; but what then? Go back?"
"Go back!" cried Brace; "certainly not. We want to go forward."
"Then you'll have to go another way," said the captain decisively, "for
the brig has done her work."
"But you'll be able to get her off in a short time?"
"I daresay I can, but look yonder at that cloud," said the captain, and
he pointed towards where, faintly seen, a rainbow spanned the river
above a rolling white cloud.
"What does that mean, captain--a shower?" Brace asked.
"Yes," said the captain, "a heavy one, squire, falling over the rocks in
hundreds of tons a minute. There's our limit. That's a cloud of spray
from some grand falls which I daresay run right across the river. I
shouldn't wonder if the country rises now in steps right away to the
mountains. If we could get up that fall, maybe we could go on sailing
for a hundred miles before we came to another; but it is not possible to
get the brig up, and, between ourselves, I think we've done wonders to
get her up here so far."
"But suppose we content ourselves with getting so far as this, and, when
we have got the brig off, turn her round and go back to the main stream
and sail up there?" asked Sir Humphrey.
"Which, sir?" said the captain, smiling; "the Amazons seem to be all
main streams, winding over thousands of miles of country, as far as we
can make out; but if we go back it's a chance if we get up so far as we
here."
Sir Humphrey merely nodded in reply to the captain's remarks, and then
they all rose and walked away in different directions, each of them
evidently trying to think of a means of getting over the difficulty
which confronted them.